Duterte camp preparing peace roadmap with Reds

Manuel Mogato, Reuters

Incoming president Rodrigo Duterte walks with communist New People's Army rebels during the release of five policemen held by the rebels for a week, in Davao City, on April 25, 2016. Keith Bacongco, Reuters

DAVAO CITY - Groundwork is being laid for a resumption of peace talks between the Philippine government and Maoist rebels, an aide to incoming President Rodrigo Duterte and a negotiator said on Tuesday, as a renewed push to end the conflict gathered pace.

The National Democratic Front (NDF), the political wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), is preparing to discuss a framework for dialogue and has already dispatched an advanced delegation to Davao City, where Duterte has been mayor for 22 years, they said.

Duterte won the largest share of the votes in the May 9 presidential election, according to an unofficial count by a poll watchdog, although the official result has yet to be confirmed.

On Monday, he said he would give four cabinet positions to the communists, including responsibility for an agency tasked with allocating land to poor farmers.

Land usage has been a factor in the on-off, four-decade conflict between government troops and Marxist guerrillas that has killed 40,000 people.

Duterte also offered a portfolio to exiled CPP founder Jose Maria Sison, who welcomed the olive branch but said he would decline a post for himself.

Jesus Dureza, a former congressman and aide to Duterte, said NDF spokesman Fidel Agcaoili was in Davao as the incoming government was preparing its position on the peace process.

"We are still preparing the new government's peace roadmap," Dureza, who will be Duterte's adviser on peace talks when he takes office on June 30, told Reuters.

Manuel Quinob, a peace advocate who has been involved in earlier negotiations, told Reuters talks were scheduled with Agcaoili.

Efforts to end the leftist insurgency stalled in 2011 when the government refused to free political prisoners.

Political analysts say chances of progress in restarting dialogue are helped by Duterte winning the presidency as he has good relations with the political left.

Duterte has promised to guarantee the safety of Sison, the CPP founder and former Catholic priest Luis Jalandoni if they return to the Philippines. The two senior rebel leaders live in exile in the Netherlands and have sought asylum there.

Sison, who was Duterte's political science professor when he was at university, was freed by late President Cory Aquino in 1986 and fled to Europe.

In an interview with CNN Philippines on Monday, Sison said he was "very proud" of Duterte and welcomed his moves to seek rapprochement.

Experts say one bone of contention could be Duterte's support for releasing hundreds of political prisoners.

The military and police, which have long been opposed to the communists, declined to comment on any such amnesty.